The Nazis didn't just burn books—they directed blockbusters. Welcome to the most horrifying studio system ever.
Film journalist and critic Rüdiger Suchsland examines German cinema from 1933, when the Nazis came into power, until 1945, when the Third Reich collapsed. (A sequel to From Caligari to Hitler, 2015.)
Editing
Jarring juxtaposition of glamorous stars and monstrous ideology.
Direction
Suchsland's cold, surgical analysis lets the footage condemn itself.
Director
Rüdiger Suchsland
Rüdiger Suchsland
Self - Narrator (voice)
Rike Schmid
Self - Narrator (voice)
Ingrid Bergman
Self - Actress (archive footage)
Adolf Hitler
Self - Politician (archive footage)
Joseph Goebbels
Self - Politician (archive footage)
Leni Riefenstahl
Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
Brigitte Helm
Self - Actress (archive footage)
Emil Jannings
Self - Actor (archive footage)
Hans Albers
Various Roles (archive footage)
Heinz Rühmann
Various Roles (archive footage)
Ilse Werner
Various Roles (archive footage)
Marianne Hoppe
Various Roles (archive footage)
Gustaf Gründgens
Various Roles (archive footage)
Marika Rökk
Various Roles (archive footage)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Veit Harlan, director of the virulently antisemitic 'Jud Süß,' was later tried for crimes against humanity but acquitted—he continued directing films until 1962.
The documentary reveals that Nazi cinema's biggest star, Zarah Leander, was actually Swedish—and her ambiguous sexuality made her an unlikely queer icon in post-war Germany.
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